Ocassional Thoughts of an Independent Progressive Atheistic Humanist
Lindy West, in an article on the Jezebel website, said that she was embarrassed to be an atheist because some atheists are dicks. I get tired of such complaints. I agree that being a dick shouldn’t be our first move, but why should believers get special treatment for their irrational and silly beliefs when they tend to be used to hurt scores of people around the world. Why are atheists always the ones asked to change?
The Supreme Court overturned part of the Voting Rights Act, overturned DOMA based on a ‘state’s rights’ claim, and a jury in Florida found nothing criminal when George Zimmerman shot and killed an unarmed black teenager. Why does this trouble me in the so-called ‘post-racial’ United States? Paul Rosenberg over at Crooks and Liars has the answer. In 2013, white supremacy is alive and well and it isn’t always burning crosses or wearing hoods.
Rosenburg makes a point that we shouldn’t call what is going on racism because it lets white supremacists off the hook. That’s how we get four frames of colorblind racism:
As much as I get frustrated about the unnecessary backlash against atheist feminists, it makes me even more upset to see some well meaning opponents of feminism in the movement who fail to learn from history. Tom Flynn, the editor of Free Inquiry and the executive director of the Council for Secular Humanism, points out the work of women on the front lines in the struggle of freethought in the last 40 years of the 20th century. Women have led the major atheist groups from the 1960’s to the present.
It has been almost 20 years since I officially chucked religion once and for all and identified as an Atheist and Humanist. Getting rid of the irrational belief system called religion was the most liberating thing that had happened to me in my life to that point and I wanted everyone to know it. I became an evangelist for rational thought and if you didn’t agree with me you were a moron. Now 20 years and many battles later I don’t feel the fire in my belly as much. I’m still a non-believer but I am more selective about what gets me cranked up. Is it my age? Have I gained some kind of wisdom as I got older that mellowed me out. Maybe it is some kind of secular menopause.
*Editor’s note* Since this post was originally published and after some good feedback in the comments below I have rewritten a couple of paragraphs to clarify my thoughts. I didn’t intend to offend any reader young or old. This post was mainly an expression of my thoughts on the subject and how I need to do better. I expressed the thoughts I know are not productive as means of illustrating that it was not productive. If you read the entire post you should see that my point as set in the title is that all of us seculars, young and old, need to work together. We all have different things we can bring to the movement. Thanks again for the feedback and reading this post.
A massive tornado flattens a large part of Moore Oklahoma on Monday. Whole neighborhoods and businesses are turned into piles of scrap wood and metal. It is times like these that a government springs into action. Providing aid quickly is one way to keep the peace and to spark rebuilding. Unfortunately some Republicans in Congress have a large stick up their ass when it comes to disaster aid. They are so worried about the budget that they demand that disaster aid be offset. That means to help people in need funds must come from other parts of the budget which usually means away from other people in need. I think if you want to offset disaster aid start with Senator Coburn’s pay.
